Snorkelling apparatus

ABSTRACT

A snorkeling apparatus comprising a face mask which has a transparent window portion which covers the user&#39;s eyes, a mouthpiece, and an air passage extending from said mouthpiece to a point above the wearer&#39;s head when in use, said air passage extending around at least one side of the window portion of the face mask.

This invention relates to a snorkeling apparatus, that is, apparatus which can be used by swimmers with their face underwater but which enables them to breathe through an air tube which extends above the water level.

Most current snorkeling apparatus comprises a breathing tube that passes from the mouth and up one side of a swimmer's head. This breathing tube is fitted to or tucked under the head-strap of a facemask which has a transparent window panel. This arrangement has problems in that the position of the breathing tube in relation to the swimmer's head and the water level and is difficult to fix accurately and is not always stable. Furthermore, the one-sided arrangement causes drag in the water and also impedes and imbalances swimming action, particularly front crawl.

Centrally mounted front air tubes exist and these help to overcome some of the problems mentioned above, but they introduce the additional problem that the tube restricts vision as it passes centrally between the eyes. This interrupts the view of marine life and sub-aqua panorama when in use.

According to the present invention snorkeling apparatus comprises a face mask which has a transparent window portion which covers the user's eyes, a mouthpiece, and a air passage extending from said mouthpiece to a point above the user's head when in use, said air passage extending around at least one side of the window portion of the face mask.

With this arrangement the window portion can have a surrounding frame at least part of which is hollow and forms part of said air passage.

The surrounding frame can be hollow to provide part of said air passage and connected at its lower end to the mouthpiece and has an upper end which is connected to one or more hollow air tubes which extend over the user's head.

If desired, two or more hollow air tubes can be provided which extend from the air passage and over the user's head. In another construction, according to the invention, the hollow frame is carried by a solid inner frame.

In a preferred arrangement there is an air passage on both sides of the face mask and the air passage can be arranged to surround the transparent window portion.

The mouthpiece can be integral with the face mask or, in an alternative arrangement, can be removably connected. With this latter construction the mouthpiece can be made from a resilient material and be a push fit into an opening in the air passage.

The apparatus can also include a streamlined headgear fitting.

The invention can be performed in various ways and some embodiments will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of snorkeling apparatus according to the present invention in use on a swimmer;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the construction shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of an alternative construction;

FIG. 4 is a front view of another alternative construction;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of part of the construction shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a top view of another alternative construction;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the construction shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a front view of another construction, according to the invention;

FIG. 9 is a side view of the construction shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a front view of another alternative construction;

FIG. 11 is a side view of the construction shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional front view of part of the face mask and an air tube of another alternative construction; and,

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional front view of part of the face mask of yet another alternative construction.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the snorkeling apparatus according to the present invention comprises a face mask 1 which has a transparent window portion 2 which covers the user's eyes, a mouthpiece 3 and an air passage 4 extending from the mouthpiece 3 to a point above the wearer's head when in use. The air passage 4 extends around at least one side of the window portion 2 and, in the construction shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, extends on both sides of the face mask 1 and surrounds the transparent window portion 2.

Thus window portion 2 has a surrounding frame 5 which is hollow to provide the air passage and at its lower portion is connected to the mouthpiece 3 and at an upper portion communicates with one or more hollow air tubes 6 which extend over the user's head.

An arrangement of straps is provided which comprise a mask strap 7 and a head strap 8 which is connected to the hollow air tube 6.

As will be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2 the mouthpiece 3 is integral with the face mask 1.

In FIG. 3 the same reference numerals are used to indicate similar parts to those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 but, in this construction, a solid inner frame 10 is provided on which a hollow surrounding frame 11 is located which has an air passage 12, a mouthpiece 3 and air tube 6 in a similar manner to that described with regard to FIGS. 1 and 2 and straps 7 and 8 can also be provided in a similar manner to that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 shows a construction similar to that shown in FIG. 3 but in which the hollow surrounding frame 11 can be removed from the solid inner frame 10. The hollow surrounding frame 11 is held in place on the inner frame 10 by a series of clips 13 which can be shaped to engage over the hollow surrounding frame 11 and clip on to the inner frame 10 or, alternatively, clip on to the frame 10 and extend over the hollow surrounding frame 11.

A typical clip 13 is shown in FIG. 5 which is carried on or engages over the inner frame 10 and a resilient part of the clip extends around the hollow surrounding frame 11. In an alternative construction (not shown) the clip can be shaped for insertion from the opposite direction, i.e. to first pass around the hollow surrounding frame 11 and then engage over the inner frame 10.

In another arrangement, shown in FIG. 6, the construction is generally similar to that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 or FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, but two hollow air tubes 14, 15 are provided which extend from the upper corners of the face mask and which are connected to the upper portion of the air passage (indicated by reference numeral 16).

If desired, more than two hollow air tubes can be used.

With the ‘two tube arrangement’ it will be appreciated that the air can pass around the air passages, i.e. around the transparent window portion and into the air tubes 14 and 15. The tubes 14 and 15 can be connected to the head strap 8.

FIG. 7 shows another construction in which reference numerals similar to those used in the other embodiments are used to indicate similar parts but in this construction a head gear fitting 17 is provided together with a fin-like attachment 18 which are attached to the face mask 1 and the hollow air tube 6. This type of construction could also be applied to the arrangement shown in FIG. 4 where the head gear fitting 17 and fin-like attachment 18 are connected to either side of the face mask and the respective adjacent air tube 14 or 15. The face mask 4 is, additionally, held in place by a headband 20.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a construction similar to that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and similar reference numerals are used to indicate similar parts but in this construction the mouthpiece 3 (as shown in the previous arrangements) is replaced by a removable mouth piece 21 which is made from a resilient material, i.e. rubber or synthetic plastics material. The upper end 22 of the mouthpiece is generally of oval cross-section and is a resilient push fit into an appropriate oval section opening 23 in the part of the air passage 4 of the lower part of the face mask. Thus, the mouth piece can be easily removed from the face mask and from the user's mouth when above the surface of the water but can be easily and readily replaced merely by pushing back into the opening 23 and placing the mouthpiece in the wearer's mouth.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show another construction for use with a removable mouthpiece. In this arrangement the mouth piece 25 is made of a flexible material, one end of which carries a portion 26 to be placed in the user's mouth and the other end of which carries a screw thread to thread it into an opening 27 in the lower part of the face mask 2. The tubular material used in this construction is such that the tube itself can be easily bent into various positions and can be arranged, in one particular construction, so that when it is held in the user's mouth it can be breathed through but when released will tend to spring back to a position away from the user's mouth, for example as shown in chain lines in FIG. 11. A number of mouthpieces of different length can be supplied and which can be fitted individually to the face mask to provide a comfortable fit for the user. In an alternative construction, not shown, the end of the tube portion can be arranged as a push fit in the opening 27 in the face mask in place of the screw thread.

The arrangement can be used on any of the face mask constructions previously described herein.

In all the constructions described above the hollow air tubes 6 are shown attached to the face mask but in FIGS. 12 and 13 constructions are shown which allow the air tube 6 to be released from the face mask.

As will be seen from FIG. 12 the upper part of the air passage in the face mask is provided with an opening 30 into which the end 31 of a air tube 6 can be plugged. The air tube 6 is made from a resilient material and has a portion 33 of reduced diameter which terminates in a flange 34. The portion of reduced diameter 33 is of substantially the same diameter as the opening 30 in the face mask so that the air tube can be pushed and will resiliently compress into the opening until it has passed the terminal flange 34.

If there are two hollow air tubes, for example as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 then appropriate openings and fittings to the ends of the tubes can also be provided.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 13 three openings 36 are provided in the upper part of the face mask so that the mask can be used with a single tube either in the centre, or, in an alternative side positions, or, with two tubes in side positions, or, even with three tubes or as required by the user. In this particular construction the openings are provided with screw threads 37 and the ends of the tubes are provided with co-operating screw threads 38 which can be threaded into the openings as shown at the left hand side of FIG. 13. In the construction shown in FIG. 13 only one side tube is being used and the other two openings are closed by plugs 39. This arrangement could also be used with push in connectors of the kind shown in FIG. 12.

Air tubes of varying lengths can be supplied and they could also be supplied in different colours so that they can be identified. Alternative mouthpieces can also be provided in colours in a similar manner.

The invention, therefore, also includes a snorkeling apparatus which comprises a kit of parts which includes a face mask which has a transparent window portion which covers the user's eyes, one or more alternative mouthpieces, an air passage extending from said mouthpiece to a point above the wearer's head when in use, said air passage extending around at least one side of the window portion of the face mask and two or more hollow air tubes which can be connected to the air passage. Thus, the various parts can be assembled together as required by the user and for any particular convenient fitting to the user's face.

As mentioned above, it will be appreciated that the various constructions can be combined together as required, for example the removable mouthpiece or mouthpieces can be used in the arrangements shown in the other Figures and the inner frame construction 10 can be used in other embodiments as can the various arrangements for attaching the air tubes or tubes.

The apparatus can be made from any suitable material, for example rubber or a synthetic plastics material and the diameter of the hollow air passage 4 would be sufficient to allow a required air supply to the user. 

1. A snorkeling apparatus comprising a face mask which has a transparent window portion which covers the user's eyes, a mouthpiece, and an air passage extending from said mouthpiece to a point above the wearer's head when in use, said air passage extending around at least one side of the window portion of the face mask.
 2. A snorkeling apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the window portion has a surrounding frame at least part of which is hollow and forms part of said air passage.
 3. A snorkeling apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said surround frame is hollow to provide part of said air passage which is connected at its lower end to said mouthpiece and which has an upper portion which communicates to one or more hollow air tubes which extend over the user's head.
 4. A snorkeling apparatus as claimed in claim 3 in which two or more hollow air tubes are provided which extend from the air passage and over the user's head.
 5. A snorkeling apparatus as claimed in claim 3 which said hollow frame is carried by a solid inner frame.
 6. A snorkeling apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which there is an air passage on both sides of the face mask.
 7. A snorkeling apparatus as claimed in claim 6 in which the air passage surrounds the transparent window portion.
 8. A snorkeling apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said mouthpiece is integral with the face mask.
 9. A snorkeling apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said mouthpiece is removably connected to the face mask.
 10. A snorkeling apparatus as claimed in claim 9 in which said mouthpiece is made from a resilient material and is a push fit into an opening in the air passage.
 11. A snorkeling apparatus as claimed in claim 10 in which said mouthpiece includes a flexible resilient tube.
 12. A snorkeling apparatus as claimed in claim 1 which includes a streamlined headgear fitting.
 13. A snorkeling apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said hollow air tubes are removably connected to said air passage.
 14. A snorkeling apparatus as claimed in claim 13 in which the air passage includes openings to which said air tubes can be connected by a push-in plug or a screw thread.
 15. A snorkeling apparatus as claimed in claim 13 in which a plug is provided to close an opening when not connected to an air tube.
 16. A snorkeling apparatus as claimed in claim 13 in which three or more openings are provided in the air passage.
 17. (canceled)
 18. A snorkeling apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which said hollow frame is carried by a solid inner frame.
 19. A snorkeling apparatus as claimed in claim 18 in which there is an air passage on both sides of the face mask.
 20. A snorkeling apparatus as claimed in claim 7 in which said mouthpiece is integral with the face mask.
 21. A snorkeling apparatus as claimed in claim 7 in which said mouthpiece is removably connected to the face mask. 